Little egret fishing

[Dave Barnes]

Camera Model Canon EOS-1D Mark III
Lens EF500mm f/4L IS USM +1.4x
Tv( Shutter Speed ) 1/3200
Av( Aperture Value ) 5.6
ISO Speed 640
Exposure Compensation +2/3

[Stu Bowie]

Hi Dave, good pre strike pose captured, and well exposed on the whites. This is sharp, and I like the ruffled detail on his chest. Comp wise, I would have moved him to the left.

[Randy Stout]

Dave:

Stuart hit the high points well. Strong sense of action. Agree about the crop as well.

Cheers

Randy

[Dave Barnes]

Thanks Stu and Randy for looking and for your thoughts.
I feel there is merit in your comments on the comp, what I tried here was to have the head close or on the BR 1/3 intersection point. By moving the bird left this move the head closer to the centre point?
I will try one as proposed.

Edit: Image added.

[Randy Stout]

Dave"

I appreciate your comp. point. Give it a try and see which one you like the best. Because of the pose of the body, this one is not a slam dunk in regards to best comp., so see what you prefer!

Randy

[Harshad Barve]

Dave
Lovely image with everything spot on , I liked it very mcuh as presented
TFS

[denise ippolito]

Beautiful action shot and the exposure looks very good. I agree w/ the bird being placed a bit more to the left also.Nicely done!

[Brian Barcelos]

Very nice image, love the action going on. I too would like him more left, you can add canvas to the right so he wouldn't be centered. Congrats

Brian

[Dave Barnes]

I have looked at the suggestion. i have moved the bird left and added canvas right.This does move the birds head into the centre.
Do you still prefer this option?

[Randy Stout]

Dave:
Here is my thought on the cropping. To me, the visual weight of this image comes more from the birds right wing and body, than from the head and left wing. There fore, moving him to the left works OK for me. I don't think there is a right or wrong here.

Just to confuse the issue a bit more, the more I look at the image, the more I am bothered by all the negative space in the LUC. Besides moving him to the left, I might also move him up in the frame a bit (don't crowd the birds left wing tip too much, and add a bit of canvas below.

Lots of interesting options here.

Randy

[Kiran Poonacha]

I like the last post dave, agree to a little more space down, loved the light and the blues add well to the frame, congrats...

[Dave Barnes]

Thanks Randy and Kiran, you comments are noted.
Randy yes could even work with a portrait crop I think wit a bit of canvas below and the rest above the bird.

[David Fletcher]

Striking shot Dave. Good timing and crisp details. Interesting points on comp, and although no right or wrong, feel the egret's right wing and details weigh more visually than the head, leaning to a preference for left bias as Randy suggests. Either way, darn fine shot! Thanks for sharing.